prologue
by rossalupus
Summary: the prologue to a much bigger story that has yet to be fully written. (will be uploaded ark by ark as completed)
1. Chapter 1

The wind howled through the trees, causing them to shudder and creak. The creaking was always got to Gren, even his companion's feuding was paltry in comparison. They were arguing again of course. In many ways it was false to say "again" as they seemed to argue without pause. Anything from the direction of the wind to the right size for firewood set them off into a wild frenzy, it was ridiculous really, three of mistrals best scouts sitting in a woods, two of them arguing loudly while the other slowly went insane.

They had been out here weeks. Trying to find some hunters that beacon was worried about, but so far they hadn't even seen any Grimm, let alone humans. Maybe that was why his companions where so on edge, there were always Grimm, there where Grimm under rocks, Grimm in the trees, Grimm in the rivers, the number one rule that all scouts stood by was that you should always expect Grimm, they were sneaky fuckers at the best of times, and without a sighting for almost a month? Any scout worth his boots would find that strange.

And the frayed nerves where made none the better by their mission, to search in terrible conditions for a team of hunters with a habit for leaving no trace. Of course a team made up of a duo who can fly and teleport respectively, an assassin, and an exile, were not the kind of people who would make themselves easy to find, especially so close to the wild kingdoms border.

Those dirty tribes with their stupid names had been the death of many a curious traveller or hot-headed hunter. They had got even worse since that ivory bastard united them all, proclaiming a new kingdom and wiping out all military outposts any further North than the edge of the forests. They had passed one such ruin a week past. Nothing but rubble and bones.

Despite this gren didn't think the tribesmen had been the cause of this, they had at least the decency to warn the outposts beforehand, not that anyone listened to a bunch of hairy men in furs, and had not shown aggression to hunters beforehand.

The other options scared him though, when hunters like this go missing it's not because they fell asleep on watch and a Beowulf had them for supper. They were the sort that punched nevermores out the sky and grappled with ursas, simply because they could. If the tribes hadn't got them then there was something else in this wood, something able to bring down hunters like a child knocks down a toy soldier. he was sure that if they had had the chance one of them would have escaped, teleported back to the outpost or flown back to beacon, add the two trained-from-birth killers, and the whole thing just seemed…off.

And if it wasn't the work of Grimm or tribesmen, then there was only one real threat to civilization.

The wind whispered as the dark blade slid across his neck, his companions too engaged in their dispute to see the shadows emerge from the trees. Dark creatures with darker armour that glittered in the moonlight and mask as white as pure snow. Gren looked into the things empty sockets as it raised the long blade above its head, though the world darkened before the blow struck.

As his team fell, the third scout charged. Parrying a blow with his sword and dashing forward, using his aura as a shield as he attempted to escape the ring of silent figures, one stepped into his path and he slashed at it two handed. The pommel of its blade shattering his right as it dodged his swing. he dropped the blade with a pained cry, clutching his ruined hand. The shadow sheathed its blade, instead taking his neck in one hand and easily lifting him above its head. Its dark eyes burning with delight as it watched the scout struggle.

As the life was choked from the scout deep in the Northern forests, the door to a small cottage on the outskirts of vale burst open as two sisters rushed in. "We've got a mission!" Ruby cried.


	2. Chapter 2

Blake looked up from her book at the breathless duo, she had sent them off an hour earlier to get groceries, they had returned with a summons bearing the beacon academy seal and a broken door. Ruby was babbling about how many cookies she could buy with the pay, while Yang still sat in the ruins of the door, looking rather dazed. Blake slammed the book shut, drawing their attention, "planning what you're going to do with the Lien is all well and good, but you haven't even told me what the mission IS" She asked, looking quizzically at the team leader.

Ruby paused for a moment before remembering the Summons, hurriedly unfolding it she began to read:

"Beacon Academy had summoned This team for a mission of the upmost importance. You are to report to Beacon Headmaster Ozpin at the earliest opportunity."

Ruby looked up from the paper with a grin,

"Mission Threat Class: A"

Blake sighed, yang laughed, and Ruby giggled excitedly. Of course the mission she'd find would be highly dangerous, Blake mused, it was just like Ruby to forget about all notions of self-preservation. She glanced at her book longingly, before standing from the sofa and putting it back on the shelf. Hoping for another day when she could simply read without anyone breaking her doors, or setting her bed on fire, or jumping through her windows, but now the she had no choice other than to step over the ruins of her door and follow their team leader as she rushed across the great span of the residential district towards the distant towers of Beacon.

Ozpin was waiting for them when they arrived. He'd changed since they had last seen him, his eyes where ringed with black and his grey hair had turned white. He leant heavily on his cane, his right leg shaking slightly as he moved to greet them, giving them a tired smile. Blake could only wonder how someone could deteriorate so much in little more than a year, but they followed him in silence as he began to walk towards the tower that stood at the heart of the Academy.

"Things have not been going too well, I'm afraid" Ozpin murmured with a sigh, "like a Hydra, no matter how many heads we cut off, the beast doesn't fall."

Blake's ears flattened against her head as she held back a hiss of contempt. "White Fang"

They had won every battle, stopped every plot, defeated every giant robot or evil clone. yet White Fang still clung onto life, even if many of its members and leaders had lost theirs. They no longer hunted her, too concerned with their own survival she guessed, but the knowledge that they were still out there troubled her deeply.

The headmaster could only nod, grimacing as they slowly ascended the stairs to the elevator. When they reached the top he spoke again. "they're recruiting hunters now, fully fledged, students, even those without training, and we have troubling reports of the Trio".

Blake rounded on him, shocked, "Cinder?". He nodded once more. "The Cinder who you said died in the blast in the research facility?"

He frowned "I said it was likely , we were never certain, but even then -" he was cut off as Ruby appeared between them, her eyes wide and a grin plastered across her face, "Are we gonna go fight her?" She asked excitedly, Ozpin chuckled, "no such luck I'm afraid, besides" his smile faded "there are far more pressing matters than shadows and whispers.

Unlike the headmaster, the Office had not changed one bit, it still imbued Blake with a sense of dread, the outlandish design of the room making it seem alien, a step apart from the archaic architecture of the rest of Beacon. Ozpin quickly settled into his chair, sighing with relief as he sank into it, before turning his attention to the three huntress'. "I'm sorry for calling on you at such short notice" he said, smiling politely, "but there have been some rather disturbing events in the last few days and we have no time to waste"

he paused for a moment, reaching out to the steaming coffee mug sat at its usual place on his desk, his hands shook even to lift the weight of the cup, yet drinking deeply he seemed to reclaim some of his old vigour. he hummed contentedly before beginning, "They attacked from within our own ranks. Students and staff alike turned on their fellows. Yet It soon became apparent that there was more to his attack than a desire to pain my Halls red. They where a distraction, White fang had another Objective in mind." his morose expression twisted into a triumphant sneer "and we've found it" he tapped at the keyboard built into his desk, causing a holographic map to appear, a map of Beacons grounds. With a few quick taps the map became more detailed, buildings could be seen, and down by the coast, in closed off part of the academy, was a glowing red Dot. Ozpin jabbed his cane at the Dot, his eyes shining "This is the Tomb of Heroes, the burial place of some of the greatest Hunters ever to walk the earth" he frowned "and their weapons".

"So they tried to swipe all that stuff while you were occupied with the attacks?" Yang asked, sounding unusually serious. Ozpin nodded vigorously, "and they would have succeeded" he stopped, his apparent anger at the defilement of the Tomb failing, being replaced with a look of confusion "well, They SHOULD have succeeded, and that's exactly the problem" , Blake finished for him "you don't know why they failed, and I take it you want us to find out", Ozpin smiled proudly "as Sharp as ever Ms. Belladonna" she returned the smile, it had been the first emotion that his aura had reflected all day.

He clapped his hands "now, unless you have any questions I suggest you get right to it". They hastily agreed and sprinted back to the elevator. Yang slowed when Ozpin called her name. "be careful out there Ms. Long, while there are many of your usual Cannon fodder, many of the higher ups are trained hunters. they won't go down quite as easy as the Average Goon" Yang nodded, before steeping into the elevator. Both the sisters where being rather calm seeing they had just been given a High importance mission which sounded a lot like certain death, a favourite of-

Once the doors closed Ruby and Yang both screamed, jumping excitedly and shouting at each other, their screeches unintelligible, after a solid minute of Ear Decimating Celebration, they finally broke off for air. "Something good?" Blake asked, a smile dancing on her lips despite her ringing ears, Ruby Looked at her with wild eyes, "Blake , we're going to the Tomb of Heroes" Blake cocked her head, "and?", the Brunette gasped dramatically "And?, AND?, the Tomb of Heroes is the best place ever" she spun to her sister "Yang tell her".

Yang was still red in the face, but she looked a great deal saner than her sibling. "The Tomb is really cool, Dad used to take us there when it was still open to the public. They've got more than just Graves, there's shrines to lost teams, artefacts used by ancient hunters, they also have the biggest archive of Data on Remnant, which includes every movie ever made" Ruby giggled Excitedly, yang blushed "and there's some other cool stuff there which is obviously less important and in no way secret".

Very subtle. But it could wait until after they had solved the mystery of the vanishing terrorists.

"It's beautiful" gasped Blake as they stared up at the magnificent structure, made of stone and Iron, it cut a sharp contrast to the muted colours of the late autumn foliage. "I said it was cool" remarked Yang with a triumphant smirk, Blake looked pointedly at the Blonde "It should also be filled with Die Hard Fanatics, so let's take this one step at a time" Ruby nodded in agreement "lets beat 'em up first, then we can go exploring!" Blake sighed, that was the best she was going to get. She didn't even try to stop them as they rushed through the main entrance shouting war cries, but before she could follow she something struck her from behind and she stumbled, she tried to draw Gambol Shroud, but another blow came, causing the world to flicker, then go dark.

The room was small, it had probably been used for storage at some time, but now it was stripped of everything but a table and two chairs, one on which she sat, there was someone in the other chair but-

Adam grinned, "Good to see you Blake" fear knotted her stomach as she stared at her Once partner, "you" she finally said. The Leader of White Fang and the person who had demanded her death (preferably painfully) raised his arms as if in defeat, "me".

he chuckled, "well not just me, I brought an army this time" he lifted a large lacquered box onto the desk "and an offer, if you're interested" when she remained silent he shrugged and lifted the lid, Inside was a Mask, shaped in the visage of a Cat, and an awful realisation, "Come back Blake, help us change the world for the better" he spread his arms, "you're not fighting your way out of this, even the heroes buried here would have a hard time at that" he smirked "hell, you can even bring those humans your so fond of" he tapped his chin, as if in thought, "I think they're still alive, I may have overestimated them though, which would be disappointing for the both of us."

He slammed his hands on the table, locking eyes with her, "so what do you say? Partner?" Blake paused for a moment, but it was hopeless, she didn't want her team to die. She couldn't let her friends die. She reached for the mask as Adams smile grew wider.

A Scream split the silence.

Adam swore, "hold It back" he roared at the guards, before jumping up and pulling a scroll from his pocket, hastily typing, he flashed a smile at Blake, "Don't worry, the offer still stands, come find me any time", the door split with a crash, the guards charging with a shout, only to stop when they realised the doorway was empty.

Then one of their number dropped, his throat opened from ear to ear, and they panicked. swinging their weapons with hopeless abandon as they were cut down by the unseen assailant. Adam slid his scroll back into his pocket and drew a sword, not wilt and blush, but a long black blade, with a feral roar he rushed forward, the sword singing through the air, his strikes parried by some unseen force, which only served to fuel his a flurry of blows he threw himself forward, crashing down with his attacker, causing her to finally flicker into existence. She growled, rolling away from him. As he jumped up to give chase a short sword took him through the stomach, pinning him to the wall, at which point electricity racked his body. The woman prowled towards the fallen Faunus. stopping at his feet, she pulled a revolver from some unseen holster and fired point blank, the shot ringing through the small room. Adam jerked violently, his body shaking and writhing. It reminded blake of a butterfly pinned to a board, strugglingly hopelessly to free itself. Two more shots rang out, and the mock adam gave a metallic groan, sparks flying from its torn carcass before it fell slack.

It was only when the woman turned to her that Blake remembered she was still sitting dumbly in the chair. She moved to stand but strong hands seized her, and she was lifted into the air. The woman stared at her intently, her Aura stank of Anger and Hatred, but now there was a hint of relief. holding Blake with one hand, she picked up the Mask with the other. she studied it for a moment, before dropping it to the ground and violently stamping on it, until naught but shards remained.

"Try not to give in so easily" she grumbled, walking across the room with the Faunus in her grip. Blake nodded briskly, the woman's right eye was twitching and her other arm was shaking. Blake thought it best to stay silent. "And you really must get more confidence in your team, cat." ordered the woman, pressing something Cold into her hands, and dropping her outside the door. she turned to walk down the hall but stopped. glancing over her shoulder, she chewed on her lip, "good luck" she said finally, before flickering out of existence and leaving Blake sitting in the middle of a blood soaked hall studying the intricate engravings on the ring. which was how Yang and Ruby found her a few minutes later, studying the engravings in the light of the setting sun.

She dragged herself through the arch, the waste had claimed her leg yet she went on, she had to see it once more before...

Before the end.

She had entrusted it all to the Faunus, her mission was over, yet she didn't want to go, she feared the end. The sight of the shrine calmed her, they had always told her not to be afraid, that there was never anything to truly fear. She knew they were right. She wondered if they were waiting for her, she hoped not.

As the sun set and team RBY (in absence of SDC C.E.O. Weiss Schnee) flew back to beacon with a ring and a message, Rossa died thinking of her knight.


	3. Chapter 3

Yang was breathing heavily, she had not been to the Tomb of Heroes since it was closed to the public eight years prior. She had always thought that the halls had seemed so long due to childish exaggeration, yet they just kept on going and going. She heard a whoosh as her sister appeared next to her, yang noticed that she wasn't even sweating. unlike Yang, Ruby's dedication to their old training regimes was absolute.

Yang wondered for a moment if she should have trained more, before quickly dismissing the absurd thought, lazy days with Blake beat running laps any time. plus she still had a punch like a cannon, and rack bigger than her head. She was secretly pleased that ruby had never quite caught up with her on that front. "You alright, sis?" ruby asked, stooping down to be level with her hunched sister.

Yang forced out a laugh, "I'll be better when we find some terrorists to punch" she wheezed, Ruby pulled her up with a smile, "well then you better get your war face on because they'll be here in like 10 seconds", a thousand questions flooded yang's mind, before she shrugged then off and activated Ember Cecelia, who was she to question someone doing something dangerous and/or stupid, she did that on a daily basis after all.

The Halls thundered with the sound of boots as a small army of masked soldiers rounded a corner she hadn't noticed, brandishing an assortment of ancient weaponry, it seemed they had wasted no time in looting the heroes' graves. Even in inexperienced hands, the raw power of ancient weapons made them a serious threat. Though, the main problem with thousand year old weaponry was definitely the lack of any ranged option.

A mixture of high calibre rounds and slugs ripped through the crowd, yang was about to mock them for their shoddy display of power when a paladin rounded the corner with the clanking of gears. A smile spread across Yang's face, she had become bored with the ranged approach anyway. "Time to being the party to them sis" she shouted over the noise. Without a word ruby seized her sister and shot forward, flinging her fist-first into the horde.

Dodging axes and blades, she danced around the panicked troops, upper cutting one, jabbing another in the throat and kicking a third across the hall, this was her element. Seizing a disarmed hunter she drew back her arm to educate him on the effectiveness of explosive rounds, but a strong hand closed around her wrist. Dropping the boy she span around with a snarl, to find her sister holding her, a look of worry on her face. Remembering herself she looked around at the white fang grunts. They law strewn around the hall, most unconscious, some simply too exhausted to fight, and one regaining his feet with a groan. Ruby's eyes brightened in recognition, "clement?"

The orange haired boy waved sluggishly, "hey Ruby, thanks for not letting her cave in my head" he turned to yang "And thanks for not doing that, I like my head how it is" he grinned proudly, well, he grinned as proudly as someone who had faced Yang Xiao Long could, so, timidly and with a few teeth missing.

Ruby's brow furrowed in frustration, "what are you doing working for a Terrorist organisation, you're-" she stopped, her face going slack, no doubt remembering the headmasters warning. she rushed the boy, crossing the hall and slamming him into the wall in the blink of an eye, "where's Rosie" she growled. He laughed again, unfazed by her sister's death stare. Yang had to wonder whether the boy was brave or just mad, regardless, he was kind of amusing.

"She's with the rest of my team digging up corpses and nicking their weapons" he chewed his lip thoughtfully, "or maybe she's off kissing that Bear guys arse" he laughed "wherever she is she's probably having more fun than I am" Ruby's eyes narrowed "your whole teams alive?".

"turns out they're really into terrorism" he said, smirking.

she let him go, stepping back "not you?"

He got to his feet shakily, rubbing the red handprint on his neck. It would probably bruise, "in my defence, they had a very strong argument"

Yang was curious as to how persuasive they had to be to convince a 17 year old human to join a Faunus terrorist organisation which focused on killing humans and inciting a race war, but he answered before she could ask "aka I woke up to three angry hunters with weapons to my throat, and a choice, join them or get chucked off the dorm roof". He chuckled "bet you can guess what I chose". Ruby shook her head. "just get out of here before things get messy".

He laughed, making no move to leave, "things aren't that simple ruby, my dear" who the hell says 'my dear'? ,yang thought, it sounds like something a creepy old teacher would say. his smile faded and his shoulders slumped, he suddenly looked exhausted. "why the hell do you think they're still here?, you think they haven't found what they came for? They found it first day"

He grimaced "problem wasn't finding it, it was getting it."

"there's something else here with us, picking us off one by one, laying traps for our patrols, booby-trapping paladins to crush their pilots" he jumped onto the smoking ruins of the paladin, " some say it's a vengeful spirit, others say it's some new Grimm spawned from hell specifically to kill us, but they haven't seen her" he slapped his chest "I have".

He stared down at them "I woke in the night to find a woman standing over me, with hair as red as the blood that coated her blade." He let out a pained laugh "I don't think there could have been a worse way to meet my idol."

Ruby stumbled back, mouth hanging open in a way that reminded Yang of a fish out of water. "The Red Blade was here? Why would she leave her team?" Ruby began shaking as she always did when she was particularly emotional. Though it was more like vibrating, an excited jig gone turbo thanks to her semblance.

"You know the story don't you? The first organised hunters. The knights in shining Armour who pulled humanity from the darkness, who slew giants and forced back the Grimm, founding great cities and bringing forth a golden age." He sighed "of course, they're all dust now, just like their great kingdom." he dropped from the ruined mech, slowly stepping towards the sisters

"But their wishes survived with the people they protected, and since the fall they have stood guard over their rulers legacy." He stopped short from them, his eyes flicking between them, "They passed their mission onto others, and on and on it went. For all we know every hunter entombed in these halls may once have stood to defend them."

Ruby had slowed now, and her brow was creased in thought as she absorbed all that clement had said.

"So when her team vanished, she came here? Using their disappearance to take herself off the grid?"

Clement nodded, before spinning on his heel and beginning to pace the hall, skipping over his fallen comrades as he continued his show "The Officers feign ignorance, but they know something. you should have seen their faces when I told them, there was fear for sure, and confusion, but behind that I saw dread. The kind of dread schoolboys get in the pits of their stomachs when they get told to go to the headmaster for some misdeed, like they knew it would happen eventually, and yet they had dared to hope that it never would"

His voice was getting quieter, his skin had gone pale, and as his voice turned to a whisper he fell. Seems like his beating left him worse off than she'd thought

Yang watched her sister rush to the boys side. Regardless of his affiliations, He had been Ruby's friend back at signal. she'd always had a soft spot for the tubby ginger, with his thick rimmed glasses, and serious lisp, he wasn't quite on par with the hyper athletic redhead, yet their friendship had flourished over their obsession with hunters, they could spend hours debating weapons and tactics, or talking about all their favourite hunters.

The man that ruby was helping up was a far cry from the boy at signal, he had grown much taller, towering over both of them by almost half a foot, he was lean, yet to yang every movement betrayed the strength he held. the arm that ruby had hooked over her shoulder to hoist him up was thick with muscle, not the bloated kind attained from reps in a gym, but the kind found on manual workers, hard packed and solid from hours of work. Yang could respect him for going the distance, but the knowledge that such strength was wrapped around her sister's neck was disconcerting to say the least, even if he was an old friend.

As she stared accusingly at clement, he glanced around, "ain't there usually more of you?" "Yeah, ice queen's off playing boss". yang couldn't help but laugh at the glare ruby shot at her, it seemed her sister was just as touchy about her jibes as her partner was, almost like a –

"That still leaves one"

both sisters' heads whipped towards him. "What?" They said in unison, his smirk flickered "well, unless as bad in math as I am with keeping my teeth in my gums then that only accounts for three of you, usually teams have four members". He lifted his eyebrow questioningly at the duo as they spun around, searching for a Girl that wasn't there.

Yang felt her stomach knot as she realised she hadn't seen the Faunus since they had rushed ahead into the Tomb. Leaving the Faunus in their dust. Alone. Against the White Fang

There it was...

Yang had been planning to show Blake the library, she was going to surprise her with it, seeing she'd never visited the Tomb before she wouldn't have known. Yang had almost told her in the elevator, but had somehow stopped herself.

It was the biggest in remnant, the Tomb had been a hub of information in its heyday, in fact when it was first built they had planned for it to hold all of humanities knowledge, of course they gave up on that very quickly during the wars, yet its archives were still massive. Yang knew Blake would have loved this place, No, Blake WILL love this place, yang was gonna find Blake alive and well and everything would be fine and they would all live happily ever after, and anyone who said otherwise would get a face full of Boom.

Kicking the door open she marched in, stopping in shock as the smell hit her. Ash. Looking around her she saw that the towering shelves where gone, replaced with great mounds of ash, the thousands of ancient tomes that she knew blake would have taken to like catnip, smoke and ash. Her shoulders slumped, this day was just getting worse and worse.

The Orange bastard was still with them, now brandishing a weird looking revolver. he whistled through his teeth

"seems someone was having a little B-B-Q"

he chuckled.

his chuckling grating yang's already frayed nerves

"I doubt we'll find anyone in here"

he leaned over her shoulder to look at the scroll, before waving his arm in the direction of the black blip on the Tracker "let's go then, chop chop" he began trekking through the ash piles, yang followed on angrily muttering with ruby glancing around warily before she followed.

Clement stopped with a curse, "oh this gets better and better" he muttered angrily, before whipping around "hit the deck" he hissed, diving into the ash piles. The sisters dropped, ruby digging into a large pile of ash and yang simply falling face first.

The figure drifted over the ash, its dark Armour twinkling in the light from the open rotunda, shadows shifted around it like steam or mist, no, that was its aura, an inky blackness.

Black

BLAKE

In yangs rage blinded mind this was a terrible insult, this man had the audacity to steal Blake's colour? she would beat it out of him. Discharging Ember Cecilia into the ground she was flung forward, landing in a roll and coming up swinging, the Thief didn't seem to register her assault, but danced around her blows regardless.

Enraged, yang activated her semblance. The flames making the things Armour shimmer. yang whipped towards it, a fist connected and she was sent sprawling. The thief drew a sword and brought it down two handed, but scythe caught blade and ruby was beside her.

Regaining her footing the sisters re-engaged the shadow, but their shots missed and it seemed to drift around their attacks. Its blade sang as it swung between them, poking at their defences, testing them, gauging their skill.

Her rage had died with the first punch, and now she could understand truly what they where facing.

"A Little help, clement?"

Her sister shouted, of course, Mr."i'msofunnyandstrong" would definitely be able to help them, if she couldn't get a hit then what chance did that prick have?

The air was cut by gun shots and the thing stumbled. Yang's next jab hit home and she followed it with an upper cut, while ruby slashed its legs from beneath it. Causing the shadow to flip backwards, landing on its neck with a loud crack.

As its life faded it let out a gurgle, before its aura evaporated, and the Armour collapsed. "It's empty?" Yang spluttered, scattering the pieces with a kick. she had been looking forward to dancing on its grave.

"Allow me to introduce you" Clement announced loudly "to white fangs new secret weapon mark.402" he grinned triumphantly "you get it? Because all their 'secret weapons' fail, so they probably have a couple hundred prior attempts at secret weapons" his eyes flickered between the two sisters before he sighed "too complicated?"

"Secret weapon?" Ruby asked with a frown.

"yes, ruby, a weapon that is secret" he unloaded the revolver, letting the empty rounds fall to clatter against the tiles.

"This is the red blades revolver, or one of the matching pair at least. All I know is that It can hurt those things, and It need to go north."

He laughed

"She might have said some other stuff too but i was busy debating wether to be terrified or elated."

Yang was still considering knocking him out and leaving him, but ruby would never forgive her, and he did just save their lives. They would just have to put up with his gibberish for a while longer. She sighed, this was the problem with thinking things out, it hardly ever lead to her punching people. Checking the scroll again she realized that the blip was far nearer than she had thought. Slogging through the thick layers of ash she rushed to the nearest door, planting her shoulder into it, causing it to shatter. As she burst through gunfire erupted from down the hall. In the direction of the blip.

Yang raced through the halls, reloading ember Cecilia as she ran, as a last ditch effort she concentrated her aura into a speed boost, whipping down the hall in a blur of motion that made her muscles scream, but when she flagged her sister was there dragging a whooping clement behind her. She turned the final corner with her eyes glued to the scroll, She only looked up when she heard the others gasp.

According to the tracker Blake would be just down... this...hall.

The hall was bathed in blood, white fang troops lay in piles, corpses covered in gashes. Many of which still bled. Chunks of stone and soldier alike littered the hall. by the looks of it whoever they were fighting brought half a ton of explosives with them. Yang heard her companions gag at the stench, though clement still let out a weak chuckle. In a moment yang was among the corpses, searching, hoping, dreading. A quiet voice called her name and she jolted up, her eyes settling on the dark figure slumped against the remains of a door.

Throwing herself over the bodies she embraced the Faunus "you're not dead!" She cried ecstatically, before her mad grin wavered.

"I thought you were dead" she whimpered, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes.

Blake just smiled, like she always did.

Yang loved that smile.

The chains clanked, they had been tested a thousand times before, and they were always secure, the knight could do little more than keep on trying, the first few weeks had been spent dreaming in the millions of violent ways to kill the jailer when he waddled by, or that wretched black haired whore and her arrogant little attack dogs, but now the only dreams where dreams of escape.

Dreams of home.

Dreams of her.

They said she was dead, they said that they were all dead, but their auras where strong. They didn't know the rings felt one another, that they felt the aura that flowed through them, the very life-force of the wearer. Three heartbeats echoed through a dull mind, a reminder of what meaning life had left.

The Iron Gate creaked open and she was there again, the snarky harlot, but she had swapped her dogs for a new pet.

"Hello again, kin" she smiled "still in a bit of a grump I see" laying her hand on an iron clad shoulder she continued "well, At this rate we'll never have you ready in time for our guests, and we reeeeaaaallly need you there. So, I've found you a fun little friend to play with, maybe they will convince you to come out of that little shell of yours". Kin didn't want to listen, but after days of silence any sound was a gift graciously accepted, even if that gift came at the price of the dumpsters touch. The pet stepped forward graciously, he was skinny, like a twig, kin could snap him between two fingers, his hair was white, matching a stupidly long beard, which hung limply down to his knees.

"Greetings exile, we haven't met before but I assure you, you would have heard of me. Though divulging my name may lead to my untimely death, so I prefer to remain anonymous." He laughed that annoying laugh that all overly confident people seemed to have "I am very interested in you, in your story, as is our lovely hostess. I have been asked to put my powers to use to make you divulge this information, as attempts to make you talk have been vastly unsuccessful, so..." His hands began to glow, and kin struggled with the bonds once more, but there was no escaping the witch and her little sniffer dog, two wrinkled hands clasped the hood, and a deep cold filled kin's mind.

"Let us begin"


	4. Chapter 4

In the sea of Kins mind, he saw a small, rocky outcrop, barren and empty. Well, almost empty. In the centre of the island was a rock, unlike the others, it was like a shard, as if some giant had crushed a boulder in his hand, and this scrap had landed here, embedding itself deep into the earth. Sticking out like a splinter from a fingertip. Atop this queer rock sat a thing. It wore armour, dirty and dented, with ragged robes and a hood which wrapped its features in shadow. On its lap was a longsword, made of a dark metal. Yet despite its grungy appearance it seemed to radiate with light, a soft glow not unlike an aura.

It looked up at him, its head cocked. Under its scrutiny he felt naked, as if the eyes hidden in the darkness could see into him, as if they could see through him, back into the room, back at cinder. Why was it looking at cinder? Was it some subconscious, embodying kin's hatred of the woman? Was it a memory of some sort, corrupted by the half madness of this mind? He didn't know, He didn't WANT to know.

It slid from the rock, lurching towards him. The sword slung onto one armoured shoulder, settling into a dent in the pauldron. He wanted to move, to run, but the mystery of this creature enraptured him, how could it do this, how could a figment of someone's mind hold him in such a state? He was the greatest mind scribe to ever walk the earth, nothing, conscious or subconscious could do that. As it neared, it crouched, and sprang up, arcing through the air, the sword shining brightly as he spun

He needed to move, nothing could harm him here, yet his every instinct screamed for him to move.

The scribes body flew back, slamming against the cells wall with a sound like the snapping of dry twigs. It hung there for a moment before its own weight pulled it down to pile on the cobbled floor.

With a sigh, Cinder motioned for a prison guard to deal with the corpse. She stared down at the motionless knight.

"The hard way then."


	5. Chapter 5

The night was cold, but that didn't worry Julius. He was wearing his warmest coat, a thick red leather jacket lined with fur. It had been a birthday gift from russet. The thought of his brother made his heart ache, he would be saddened to learn that he was gone, but there was nothing for him here.

The Knife seemed to weigh a ton, it was a carving knife from the kitchen, not suited for anything more than slicing meat for a Sunday roast. Yet it was likely he would face dangers long before he found a real weapon, so it would have to do. He clutched it to his chest, as if fearing some unearthly force would snatch it from him.

His eyes darted across the dark street, seeing Grimm in every shadow, but there couldn't be any Grimm. This was the heart of the city, no Grimm could penetrate this deep, yet a voice in his mind reminded him that there was a chance for lightning to strike the same tree six times consecutively, no matter how small the chance, the fact that there was a chance meant anything was possible.

Including there being Grimm in the heart of the city.

Julius ran.

Father was a deep sleeper he had thought, there's no way he would realise you were gone until the morning. He had forgotten of course that his father had a habit of taking midnight walks through the halls, he had only stayed up long enough to hear him a few times and as such it had slipped his mind. But now there was something else here, he had heard the sound, a sound like a record played in reverse, unsettling and alien. It was quick, almost too quick to hear, a sharp pulse that drew ever closer.

He slowed to a stop, there was no use in running now, this wasn't some shadowy half reality this was something living and breathing, and if it lives then it can be killed, he turned back and settled into a fighting stance, the knife by his right leg, his left arm raised slightly, and his chin down to protect his throat. He had learnt it from the internet, he was likely doing a thousand things wrong, but it was all he had.

"Cant die yet, I've got stuff to do" he half chuckled at his little catchphrase. Never before had it rung so true. The tensions seemed to ease slightly, and he took a moment to survey his surroundings, the street itself was empty, but the alehouses where filled with raucous cheers and drunken revelry, the light shining dully through the frosted glass wrapped the street in a warm glow. He must have passed through half the city by now, little good it had done.

The sound came again, but this time it was followed by the sound of hobnailed boots on stone. Julius tensed, crouching into the stance, gripping the knife's wooden handle tightly. Then a figure emerged from the shadows.

Dressed in green robes, one would expect him to be a man of the faith, but the iron mask said otherwise, two bloodshot eyes peeking from beneath the skullcap. "Yer a quick one, yer father warned me 'bout that" his head tilted as he examined the knife, "such confidence from a businessman's spawn, ye think that trinket could hurt me, eh?"

He warped forward, one gloved hand catching him around the throat, the knife falling from his hand as he was lifted by the neck. "Im sure yer father won't mind a few cuts an' bruises". Julius caught a face full of his rotten breath as he laughed.

"OI, WHAT IN THE FLAMING HECK ARE YOU DOING TO THAT KID?!

The man tossed him to the ground, turning to the drunkard as he stumbled towards them, a beer bottle in one hand and a crumpled slouch hat in the other, he seemed oblivious to the danger, or the serrated blade in the mans hand.

"Leave, this ain't none of yer business",

"Yer beatin' on a kid, i think this is my bloody business ya crook."

"And how are you gonna do anything about it, you drunken bastard"

"We can take ye on"

"We? All i see is one drunk man who-"

"TWO DRUNK MEN"

They both turned as another drunk stumbled from another tavern, a hulking man with a thick beard and an eyepatch, lugging a massive clay jug from which he took hearty swigs, the top of a swords hilt peeked from behind one thick shoulder.

"SCOTCH!" The first drunk cheered

Scotch grinned "gettin' in ta other people business again Oz?"

"Well, 'e was strangling the kid so-"

"What?!" scotch let out a disgusted groan, "you get off on choking kids or summet?

The man's eyes widened, "what? No! Of course not, i-"

There was a crash as a tavern window shattered, a grubby man struggled to his feet and let out a roar.

"WASALDISRUMBLINBOUT?!"

"Alright pike? We're re gonna beat this guy up"

Pike looked from the man to them, then he darted forward, seized the man by his robes and head butted him. The man almost regained his composure, but a jug shattered over his head and he collapsed, scotch letting out a bellowing laugh.

Oz stooped to help Julius up, seemingly sobered, "can ye run mate?"

Julius was confused, with the other two beating the living daylights out of the man it was rather unlikely he would give chase, his confusion must have showed as the drunk chuckled, "won't be too long 'till the droog remembers he can teleport"

Wordlessly, they ran.

Oz may have been drunk, but he ran fast, faster than Julius could've ever hoped to, a life in luxury had not helped his physique, and though he has spent the last few months trying to lose weight in preparation. He was soon exhausted, his throat raw and his legs burning. Luckily the drunks adrenaline seemed to be wearing off, as he suddenly stumbled and fell, skidding across the cobbles with a grunt. Julius couldn't help but chuckle at his condition, but only then, when the blood had stopped pulsing through his head, did he hear the robed man's growl.

He spun with a shout, fists swinging, only to stumble as they passed through empty space, the man still half a street behind them.

His green robes had been stained brown, a mix of liquor and blood, and his mask had been ripped off, blood flowed thick from his ruined nose, clotting in a heavy brown mustache. One arm hung limp, but in the other he held a crossbow, it was nothing like the heavy wooden crossbows used by city guards, it was small and metallic, the bow recurving slightly. With a snarl he fired, but the bolt missed, lodging in the wall of a nearby house. The man let out an exasperated groan as he attempted to reload with one hand, but he was rather luckless in the endeavour. Julius knew he should have ran for cover, but to see his assailant in such a state, the same man who had pondered over harming him simply for his own enjoyment now concussed and cursing as he tried to reload a crossbow with his one unbroken arm. It was almost funny.

With an agitated cry he tossed the crossbow to the ground and drew the serrated knife once more, half-teleporting half-stumbling towards him. Oz grabbed Julius shoulder, pulling him back as he juggled two rocks in his other hand, with a flick of his wrist he sent them both flying towards the man. Though one flew wide, the other hit him square in the face, causing him to fall back onto his ass. He let out a dull groan, before reach-The pillar hit the ground with a crash, the marble shattering, the man lost beneath the debris.

Oz grinned, "Bullseye"

He turned from the wreck and began to walk away, glowing with pride, then he tripped over his own legs and fell flat in his face.

"Somewhere here"

Julius looked to where the drunk had pointed, a ruined stable, such a sight was not unusual in this part of the city, they had once been world renowned for their warhorses, but Atlas and its dust powered vehicles had made them redundant and the whole equine sector had been left to rot.

He stepped cautiously into the ruined stable, Oz slung over his shoulder. At first it seemed to be no different from any other of the decrepit buildings, but as his eyes adjusted to the dark he noticed a scattering of empty cans and the ashes of a fire, then he saw the dark mass beside it and his breath caught, was it another cutthroat sent to capture him? Or maybe a dangerous fugitive? Or even a Grimm? Oz was not as easily cowed, he shoved off Julius shoulder and staggered towards the mass, before giving it a savage kick.

In an instant he was against the wall, a plated fist clenched his shirt and the tip of a lance grazed his throat. Emboldened by liquor, he laughed, "I interrupt yer beauty sleep or something, frog?"

The only reply was the breath rattling from the full faced helmet.

Oz's smile quavered, "yer gonna hit me now aren't ya?"

The knight, it looked like a knight anyway, just like the ones from all the stories, shining armour and all, flipped the lance and cracked the heavy pommel over his head.

Oz let out a yowl of pain, "limey tart!" that earned him another strike, after that he had the bright idea to stay silent.

The knight glared (?) at the drunk once more, then, seemingly satisfied, drive the lance into the ground and turned to Julius.

"You are not one ours"

"Uh, well, I..."

"Zat was not a question, scotch iz taller, pike iz dirtier, and paddy would 'ave talked my ear off by now"

Julius didn't know what to say, so far he had been threatened by a cutthroat, saved by a trio of drunkards who subsequently crushed the cutthroat with a thousand year old pillar, and now he was talking to knight in an abandoned stable, he suddenly felt the need to pinch himself to check if he had accidentally fallen asleep and was still back in his bedroom.

"You're a runaway"

The voice was soft, high pitched, nothing like what he had expected from the knight, to him all knights had gravelly voices and swords, not lances and strange voices with stranger accents.

"Not speaking?"

He looked at the knight again, really looked, the armour was formless, the wearer hidden beneath layers of steel, yet there was always ways to understand people, or at least understand what they are, by how they carried themselves, how they moved, spoke, how they stood, or their reactions. Julius had never been too good at reading people, but he was giving it his best shot. The knight stood with one fist resting against their hip, one leg slightly bent. The other hand was strange, half curled, the ring finger twitched rapidly, the nerves must be damaged.

"Oz, why iz he staring at me like zhat? Did I kill iz mozer or something?"

"Eh, I'm sure he's just been through a lot"

"I'm guessing you will want to take 'im to tea back at ze base?"

"Not like he's got anywhere else to go"

The knight sighed, before clenching their twitching hand.

From the dirt a mist rose, and in the mist where shapes, blunt and blurry forms of strange creatures and fearsome beasts, then the mist began to spin, slowly first, like a carousel at a carnival, then faster. Fast enough that the mist blurred into a perfect grey disk.

Without a word the knight seized Oz and tossed him through, he slid into the mist silently, as if swallowed by it.

Before he could speak, before he could make an excuse and leave the strange duo and their creepy half sentient mist, before he could run off into the dark and hide in some other less evil looking stable, the knight shoved him through.

Oz groaned, clutching his head. Julius' ached all over. On the other side of the portal had been nothing but air, the knight had set the portal to exit at the top of a ridge, and they had both tumbled down it. Julius cursed himself for following Oz, he could have dropped him off outside the stable and have been half way to mistral before the town was alerted. Now he was face down in the dirt, and there was something coming, clanking with each step. The footsteps stopped, and Julius waited, expecting the person to talk, ask him why he was here, or who he was, maybe this was the tea guy that the knight had mentioned?

"GRAU, YOU MISERABLE SOCIAOPATH, WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT KILLING INTRUDERS?"

"Zat it waz fun?"

"DAMN STRAIGHT, BUT THE WHINY LEAF DRINKER WANTS HIM ALIVE"

"I do not answer to Mercians"

"NO, BUT YOU ANSWER TO ME, NOW STAND DOWN SOLDIER"

The softer voice sighed, "Yes sir"

Someone seized him by the collar and hoisted him up. Lifting him up to glare at him with wild blue eyes, half hidden under a thick mass of blonde hair. Dropping him on his feet, the soldier stepped back to inspect him, and he her. She was dressed in military fatigues, almost smartly dressed, if not for her wild hair, heavy locks almost reaching her waist, a broad fringe flopped over her eyes, it was a miracle she could see where she was going. She gave a snort of amusement, before turning to Oz, who still lay on the dirt, groaning. She smirked and muttered something under her breath, did she call him a hippie?

"GRAU, PUT THAT CREEPY FUCKING DROID OF YOURS TO SOME USE AND CARRY THE DRUNK"

Julius turned to look at Grau, he was standing stock still, clad in fully in steel, a large spear raised in both hands, as if to stab at the ground. Right where Julius had been moments before. Then a quiet voice came from behind the behemoth.

"ze Warrior iz for fighting, not for carrying drunkards"

Grau stepped out from behind his creation, he was short and thin, what some people would refer to as a weed. Someone more interested in the strength of their mind over the strength of their body. Small grey eyes peeked from behind horn-rimmed glasses. He was immaculately dressed in a grey suit, and his grey hair, or at least what was left of it, was slicked back. He glanced at Julius, he seemed indifferent to him, though he had been drawn for a killing blow just moments before. Out and in, he was grey. Then he glared at the soldier, but almost immediately broke under her own half veiled stare. The warrior slid the spear onto its back and stooped to pick up the drunk, who protested feebly.

"C'mon then kid, let's take you to our leader." She chuckled, though to Julius everything she said sounded like a threat, regardless of her humours.

The amazing base Oz had droned on about during their travels across the town was not very impressive. In all honesty, Julius had never seen an encampment of any kind as badly organised as this one. The tents were half assembled, empty cans and packages littered the muddy ground, and unwashed pots and pans lay by the dying bonfire. The only exception to this rule were two immaculate tents, one red and white, the other blue and yellow. By the entrance of the red and white tent was a small fire, a neat ring of stones with an immaculate cone of firewood crackling at its heart. Above the fire hung a cast iron pot, tended by, strangely enough, a man in a Top hat.

He left them standing for a moment, slowly stirring the pot, he leant forward and inhaled deeply, before giving a satisfied sigh. Finally he looked up, bright blue eyes meeting Julius' brown. A warm smile spread across his face, and he gestured to an empty folding chair.

"Take a seat, get the weight off your feet." His voice had a rich lilt to it, a seductive curl that made you hang from his every word. Julius immediately felt he could trust him, surely someone so friendly could not be dangerous. He nodded in agreement and slumped into the chair, twisting he head slightly to look over to the man.

"I must say, I'm rather impressed. Surviving an encounter with Blinker is almost unheard of, I know of course he meant to return you alive, but escaping him is much harder, so either way it's a rather superb effort."

How did he know what had happened in the town? Julius was too tired for mind games, he couldn't be bothered to guess.

The man (was this tea? He was making tea in that pot of his) did not leave him questioning. He hooked Oz's slouch hatch on the tip of one of his polished dress shoes and flicked it up, deftly catching it in his free hand, all the while he stirred the pot. From the brim of the hat he pulled small black box, a listening device. His gave a proud smirk, "there's always a way to make use of chaos, drunks are brilliant places to hide bugs, no-one expects a man who's too drunk to stand, to even remember them, let alone anything they say."

His smirk faded into a thoughtful gaze, his brow furrowed with worry. "Now, there's still the problem of what to do with the runaway son of a high ranking businessman with strong ties to the Atlean upper class, to spare the questioning the fact that your jacket costs more than some people's homes is a dead giveaway, along with the fact that blinker squealed everything he knew to pike, likely in the hope that pike would stop hitting him."

"As I said tea, he ain't got anywhere else to go" Oz had pulled himself up slightly, slumping against a crate. Heavy lidded eyes locked onto the man.

"Well, even if that is the case, we're probably not the safest people to be around" he turned to Julius again "you like being hunted by imperialist kingdoms and fighting for survival sunrise to sundown?"

Julius was half asleep, the fire was warm. He was safe. And they had mentioned fighting, he liked fighting. Sleepily, he grinned.

"I'll take that as a yes" the voice was far away, hazy, the dark was welcoming. Never before had Julius welcomed sleep so eagerly.


	6. Chapter 6

Yang weaved around the razor edge, driving one fist into her opponents armpit, before swinging round to deliver a blow to his head. He almost fell, but instead pivoted on the handle of his axe as its heavy blade sunk into the floor

One.

Gripping it in two hands, he sprung forward with a savage slash, yang caught the blade on ember Cecilia, and with a flick of her wrist sent the axe flying from his hands.

Two.

He didn't miss a beat, flying up with an aura boosted she felt his bare sole on the back of her head. He kicked off, blasting her across the ring.

Three.

Yang staggered up. He was rushing across the ring, steel glinting in blue eyes. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and twisted. Her right arm snapped out, her knuckles met his jaw and his legs were knocked from beneath him. He landed with a heavy thud and did not rise. GUNS: 1, AXE:0

Yang was drenched in sweat, and stank worse than an Ursa. The shower was a relief for her nose, but it did little to ease her aching muscles. A small price to pay for strength, and she needed to be stronger. As she dried her hair, her thoughts drifted back to the library, the shadowy creature standing among the ashes, untouchable.

If not for the huntress' gift they all would have died. She had watched the Shadow as she watched any opponent, trying to gauge its strength, its fighting style, trying to understand it, trying to find its weakness. She'd only understood one thing. Having felt the power behind its attacks, aura or no, a single hit would have cut her in two. She couldn't let that happen, she needed to be there for ruby, for Blake, hell, even for Weiss. RWBY needed her. She couldn't keep taking risks and expect to get out alive, because one day lady luck would turn her back.

They were sat in the reception, Blake and clement on a leather sofa, and ruby on a plastic chair beside them. Blake was on her scroll, ruby was looking bored, and clement appeared to be unconscious, yang noticed he was covered in an assortment of plasters decorated with Cartoonish flowers and ducks, she would have laughed at how ridiculous he looked, had he not appeared half dead as well.

"Whats up with chuckles?"

Putting away her scroll, Blake sighed, giving ruby a reproachful glare. "SOMEONE thought knocking was overrated, and decided throwing poor clement through the window was a better way of getting my attention."

"Im not poor, i got like 5 lien, thats five more than poor" clement's eyes where half open, he still lay slumped against the sofa, after staring at her for an uncomfortably long moment he began a staring match with his hand.

"Is he alright?"

"Turns out painkillers don't go well with alcohol"

"You gave him alcohol?"

"He was already drunk when he was used as ammunition. According to ruby he's been going from bar to bar ever since he got his pay, which is apparently Beacons attempt at reparations for being teamed with terrorists. unfortunately she told me this after i gave him the painkillers"

Ruby was giving her best "im sorry" face, but Blake ignored her.

"So what do we do with him?"

"Take him with us, if we leave him he'll end up at the bar again."

"Home?"

"Beacon"

"Has Ozpin got new orders for this mission that's we're apparently still on?"

"No, but we need to see him. We just had a very interesting meeting"

The cafe was unusually quiet, situated in the fashion districts main street, it should have been packed. But only one chair was occupied, at the entrance of the cafe. The man flashed them a welcoming smile. He had brilliant blue eyes, unsettlingly blue, and shoulder length sandy blonde hair. Just as Blake opened her mouth to plead with ruby to behave herself as he could be an excellent source of information on their mission, Blake had guessed that was what this was about anyway, ruby vanished in a cloud of rose petals.

He still smiled, unsettlingly calm for a man with a scythe at his neck. It didn't seem like a bluff either, his aura showed no sign of fear, only a sharp spike of amusement. He cocked his head back to address the scowling huntress. "OR we could talk this out"

Ruby's only reply was to press the blade harder against his throat. Someone had set an alarm for this meeting on Ruby's scroll. Ruby hadn't liked that one bit, especially as her phone never left the top pocket of her jacket, making it, according to her logic, impossible to steal and set alarms on. The spike of amusement died down and the mans aura went grey. Then he was standing, holding out a compacted crescent rose to its bewildered owner, who took the weapon in numb fingers before slumping into an empty chair, shellshocked. The man turned, but looked right past her at clement, who had sluggishly stumbled on after them, refusing any help. "Would you like a drink?"

Clement nodded feebly, painstakingly lowering himself into a chair. Though he caught the bottle deftly as it flew towards him, knocking off the cap with the back of his hand, the practiced manner of a heavy drinker. Flopping back into the chair, he knocked back the bottle.

Then he turned to her, twin gemstones boring into her soul. "Now miss belladonna, let's have a chat"

"What did he say?"

"Im just getting to that"

"Just remember who you're dealing with"

Blake, of course, knew how short her partners attention span was, and with a sigh, she admitted defeat. "The abridged version then".

" Basically he agreed with Clement. we have to go north, and we have to do it alone."

"So the usual shit"

"Essentially"

Yang was excited, their first mission in forever! , she was planning what to pack when her mind flittered to her bike, fresh from the workshop, waiting outside for her, one ride couldn't hurt. She turned to her sister, smirking. "Race you to the station." Then ruby was gone, dragging clement behind her. And yang was not far behind, rushing out the door with Blake slung over one shoulder.

"I feel like i should be surprised."

Ozpins eyes were locked on the map before him, and his steaming mug had paused halfway up. He was looking better since last time they had seen him, the frailness had left him, and his trademark smile had returned, the soft smirk adding to the shroud of mystery he loved to cloak himself in. His aura had also regained its vigour, last time he had felt almost dead, a bitter husk, but now his aura glowed with a flurry of emotion. His decline and recovery had been unnaturally fast. Blake doubted stress had really been the cause, but it was better not to ask. If Ozpin had wanted them to know he would have told them.

"Ever since you walked through those gates, five long years ago, i would be hard pressed to find any major event that you where not involved in, but i do not believe that to be a bad thing.

You came here, to quote myself, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And you have done far more than that. You weathered four years of madness and mayhem. Frankly, To say i am proud of you would be a vast understatement. In my opinion, sending you with any kind of backup would be an insult to your skill, and furthermore if this man is who i think he is, it would be wise to heed his advice."

"You know him?" The possibilities were endless, a hunter? A general like ironwood? simply an old friend?

"Not as such, but for as long as i remember the wanderer with eerily blue eyes has preceded almost every significant event in mankind's history ", Ozpin smiled knowingly.

"So you lay your trust in a total strangers judgement because of a myth?"

"It's called faith, Ms. Rose. And in times like this, it helps to have it.

"But what if he was wrong, or if this wasn't the same guy?"

"Then my faith will be in you, to succeed regardless of the odds. Find out why white fang took the Sword, and how Team LARK is twisted up in all of this."

Their leader stared into the middle distance for a moment, lost in thought, before she grinned at Ozpin. Giving him a sloppy salute. "We won't let you down sir!"

Ozpin returned her smile, his aura shone with pride. "I'm sure the four of you will make short work of them."

"Four?" They said in unison, did he mean to send clement with them? He was a third year, hospitalised with severe alcohol poisoning, he would be more of a hinderance than..."

"my my, was all that Maths tutoring really for nothing?."

Blake's head whipped to her right, where the empty seat had now been filled by a young woman in a pure white suit, blue eyes shining as she chuckled at her attempt at a joke. In a whoosh of rose petals she was knocked out of her seat. Ruby pulled her into a crushing hug while rattling off questions at a hundred miles an hour. Then her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply, as if remembering something important, and she vanished with Weiss in tow.

"Make sure to inform your leader that the airship to four trees military base leaves at dawn, she will have more than enough time to interrogate Ms. Schnee while trekking through the northern forests." He took a sip of coffee to hide his own smile, waving his cane in dismissal.

Question after question rushed by, she didn't even pause for an answer, or breathe. Weiss had almost forgotten how energetic the younger girl was, but after four hours of questions with no end in sight had been more than enough to remind her.

Desperate to evade the redhead's interrogation, she turned to the fifth and final passenger of the airship. Who had stood beside the bench gazing out of the Airships window.

"Im sorry if we're disturbing you sir"

The soldier studied her for a second, before leaning forward to look past her at Ruby. "Oh, no. I'm fine. I just find it a bit rude" before Weiss could reply with a solemn apology he continued.

"A bit rude that my bestest friend ruby rose tried to have all the fun without me" a smug grin split his face as the other girls groaned.

"You can't be serious"

"How are you even standing?"

"Yay, clement!"


	7. Chapter 7

Weiss would have sighed, but she was fairly certain that her mouth would freeze if she opened it. Even bundled in a cocoon of jumpers and winter jackets, she was shivering. The icy winds whipping past, unseen hands tugging her backwards, as if trying to turn her back the way she had come. Not that she hadn't considered doing so, but she couldn't leave her team, no matter how foolish they were. Yang was still wearing her t-shirt and shorts combo, steam drifting off her bare arms. Weiss envied her, Schnee had historically bad circulation, which meant she was colder than ever. Blake and Ruby had wormed their way into the warmth of yang's arms, their winter clothes doing as little as her own against the snowstorm, but at least clement had it as bad as her, if not worse. The poor boy was suffering from the accumulated hangover of his month long binge, and possibly a number of skull fractures. He had fought yang after all.

Regardless, she was happy to have someone at least moderately mature on the journey. Blake had been mature once, but now she was firmly on the barbarian's side. She had even agreed on this insane plan, concocted by none other than the human furnace herself. The Commanding Officer had offered them run of the base! They could have based their search from there, they didn't have to walk off into the woods with nothing but a months' worth of military rations and a few sleeping bags. But they had, and Weiss was cursing everything, why had she thought a suit would be a good idea, of course it was a beautiful suit, but it did very little against snow and hail.

Luckily ruby had brought her whole wardrobe, quite literally. Apparently gaining inspiration from beacons equipment lockers, her wardrobe was rocket propelled and could be sent to her location, though unlike the beacon lockers, it had landed upright and flown off smoothly, a welcome difference the artillery esque destruction caused by the other. The winter jacket was slightly too short on the arms, it was probably from before Ruby's growth spurt. 3 pairs of gloves and 5 jumpers had dealt with that. And, while they were dreadful both in looks and combat, two pairs of thermal trousers had replaced her slacks. Not her usual style, but who would she need to dress well for? The Grimm?

She cursed the Grimm, she cursed the snow, she cursed the stupid bellhop who had lost her luggage, she hadn't even been able to scold him properly, and he had laughed in her face then vanished into thin air. The gall! Weiss wondered why it was always the blondes that made her life miserable.

The Northern forest loomed before them, ancient trees with blackened bark and deep green pines. Blake felt as if she had stepped back into some prehistoric time, humanity and all its influence had fled south, now only the Grimm remained. It was so peaceful, and though she knew that they where following what had until recently been a supply road to one of the bases deeper into the forest, it felt like the forest had not been disturbed in thousands of years. Perhaps this was where the ancient Grimm had fled to, older than time and sicker than sin, Oobleck had had a queer fascination with them, and despite what it could mean for humanity, he was adamant they still lived. He had left one night to search some old cave or another, and had never returned. Blake's eyes turned up to the white sky, pierced by the arrow like treetops, perhaps Oobleck had gone north to look for his monsters?

As they neared the forests edge, a warmth spread through her hand. The ring the woman had pressed hurriedly into her hands in the tomb of heroes was shining with a golden light that seeming to grow ever stronger as the sun set, until it basked the five of them in its harsh glare. Now the others had noticed, they crowded around. Not quite knowing what to say.

Then clement leant forward, and warily Prodded the ring. Nothing happened, much to his apparent surprise. All in all the whole spectacle had taken five minutes or so. It had been both a let down and a waste of precious time. Only when the light of the ring suddenly died, did Blake realise it was warmer. Looking out into the darkness, the trees seemed higher, deeper, darker. The wise old sentinels she had seen earlier had transformed into gnarled beasts in the unforgiving darkness. Looking down, she saw they now stood at the edge of a clearing. At its centre was a strangely tall bonfire, and by it sat a man. The man smiled politely, then pointed up. Following his direction Blake raised her gaze, just in time for a boot to connect with her face.

The blunt end of the mans spear struck ruby square in the face, knocking her into the trees with a yelp, the flat of the spears head slapping mysentar from wiess' hand. He spun sharply, tripping blake as she tried to rise, before he rushed towards yang with an explosive force, spear head levelled to her heart, only to stop short.

"Did she fucking yelp?"

"I think so"

The other man stood nearby, leaning on a massive gilded hammer. His brown eyes flickering between the hunters, before settling on the untouched, but rather startled, Clement.

"They're not hostile"

"Little late for that isn't it?"

"As per usual"

"Eat a dick"

" ahh yes, so hurtful"

"Your mums so hurtful"

"she can be rather mean"

"OH BY GAD"

All head turned to ruby as she stumbled out of the wood, she was clutching her jaw, but her teary eyes glowed with awe.

"YUR REELY IM"

The blonde scratched his head with the tip of his spear, cocking his head to the recovering hunters.

"She alright?"

"Im sure shes just star struck" the other man interjected. There was a moments pause before the other man dropped his spear and started trying to clean himself up, slicking his mane back with a spittle covered hand and rubbing the dirt from his face. Finally he turned back to ruby with a wide smile.

"Why yes, i am, and your jaw is dislocated. Let me get that for you" he whipped forward and twisted her jaw sharply until it clicked, extracting another yelp from the wide eyed girl.

The man stepped back to view his handiwork, but was swiftly knocked off his feet by a flash of red.

"OH MY GOD IM YOUR BIGGEST FAN, BUT YOU HIT ME AND THATS OK BECAUSE YOU FIXED IT AND YOU'RE HERE AND YOU'RE AWESOME AND OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD"

The other man laughed as his friend was whipped around the clearing by the screaming girl, before he stooped down to pick up clement, who had fainted.

He spared a glance at the huntresses, or particularly at the Faunus girl, who looked the least angry with them.

"I hope you've brought some food, I'm fucking starved"

Not waiting for a reply, the man turned from them, and immediately vanished, reappearing seated at the bonfire. Blake looked questioningly to Yang, who shrugged in reply before they followed.

Weiss emerging from the trees moments later to see that she had missed whatever confrontation had occurred. Cursing everything she could think of for the second time that day, she raced after her teammates.


	8. Chapter 8

"We must fight!" Rouge roared, slamming one steel clad fist against the the table, causing teas cup to rattle in its saucer. The Mercian ignored her, staring down at the reports with a frown. Rouge was left to seethe for a moment longer before he shook his head, "the peace is shaky enough as it is, and i'd prefer it if we all got to Forossa alive."

"one islander iz worth a thousand Atleans" .

Tea gave an amused snort, "so we take a few thousand with us! I mean, Its not like they have a couple million robots to chuck at us to soften us up first."

He sprang up from his chair, slamming his hands down on the table with enough force to send the cup and saucer flying. "OH WAIT. THEY DO."

Their eyes locked, and the tent descended into a frigid silence. Then Rouge flung the table aside and tackled him out of the door. Sending them down the hill in a mass of flailing limbs and loud curses.

The other islanders exchanged worried glances before they rushed after them. Out of all the members of the delegation, only fights between these two were a cause for alarm. With good reason.

Tea had gained the upper hand, with a tight hold on her arms, he was slamming her head into a tree. Moments later she had tripped him up and was trying to beat his head in with a rock. Then she screamed as he dislocated her arm, slapping her aside with the rock before scrambling up and sprinting back to his tent. After painfully relocating her arm, rouge rushed back to her own tent, but by then the islanders had already raced after Tea, leaving the trainee to deal with the knight.

Rouge fixed him with her one good eye, giving him a view of her blood stained teeth as she hissed out a warning, brandishing her lance in both hands. He ignored her, focusing instead on the swords weight in his hand, trying not to remember how easily she'd turned an ursus major into a pincushion with that ungodly piece of iron. Oh great, he was thinking about it. She lunged with a roar.

He stepped aside, batting the lance down into the dirt. As it lodged in the dirt he struck her across the head with the flat of his blade. Only when she fell and didn't rise did he realise what he had done.

"We'll thats a good enough answer"

The trainee spun with a surprised cry. Tea was in a fresh suit, his rapier held in one thin fingered hand. He moved swiftly, slipping behind him and swatting the sword out of his hand with a grunt of disgust.

"We cant have you using steel, Mercian can't compromise. Usually we'd get you something from the forges, but Grau's is just as good."

The trainees mouth was dry and his chest hurt, he was still alive? He tried to listen to Tea's prattle, but he couldn't hear much over the sound of his thundering heart.

"Mercian?"

"You brought down a Caisian knight, tradition and a number of old laws now decree you're Mercian." He frowned and scratched his cheek thoughtfully, "well, you don't have the life long training or hereditary semblance, so more like a honorary mercian, but that doesn't change anything, so enough yapping we've got to get you prepared." Tea looked down at the unconscious knight. "She wasn't wrong about needing to fight. Just not here."

The sky was beautiful. For as long as he could remember, the trainee had loved the night sky. The shattered moon hung among a sea of twinkling stars, each pinprick of light the result of a thousand year journey.

His breathing was louder than a siren in the death like silence that cloaked the wood. The trainee felt a sharp pressure on his sternum, And from the pressure spread a fuzzy warmth. The feeling became more intense, like jolts of electricity. Then it died almost as quickly as it had come, and silence beat down on him once again.

"Thought you said he'd glow?"

The trainee's eyes flickered over to where Oz was perched on a nearby cobblestone wall, then to Tea, who was rubbing his chin, a look of confusion on his face.

"He should have"

"Then why dint he?"

"How the bloody hell should i know!"

"You're meant to be the expert, mate"

Tea let out a groan, almost doubling over in exhaustion, but steadied himself. Adjusting his top hat, he glowered at the other man. Who began laughing heartily, before he rolled back off the wall, vanishing from sight.

Tea took a deep breath and gestured to the trainee. "Let's get back to base, these are tomorrow's problems".

If the base had been bad when he had first arrived, then this was a new low. Most of the group where sat around a blazing bonfire, made of the camping chairs Oz had brought in a village a few weeks back. It was no surprise for scotch's gang to be doing something stupid, but the trainee was surprised to see rouge among them. Shed of her plate Armour, she almost looked normal, though as she turned the horrific twisting scars that covered her left half shattered that illusion. Still, She actually looked somewhat... Happy, a rare enough occurrence for any Caisian, even rarer for the bitter knight. Though the empty bottles that littered the ground could explain that.

When the group saw the trainee, they let out a drunken cheer, greeting him with a storm of crude congratulations and bawdy tuness. They didn't ask, it could be that Oz had already told them, but it was more likely they simply didn't care. For Mercian's activating ones semblance was a solemn occasion, for other islanders it was simply an excuse to drink.

Surrounded by warm smiles and hard liquor, the Trainer, no, the Mercian felt accepted for the first time in a lifetime. In the back of his mind he realised both Tea and Rouge where nowhere to be seen but his usual curiosity was drowned in alcohol, and he silently agreed with Tea.

Tomorrow's problems.


	9. Chapter 9

Blake was not one of late nights, usually she'd make a point to be in bed by ten at the latest, but according to her scroll it was early morning, and none of them had slept a wink.

"So we left kin and Rossa to do their thing, went and had ice cream. All in all, it was worth the wait." The lion Faunus chuckled sadly, finally falling silent after hours of innumerable tales detailing his bravery and might. Ruby and Clement were, of course, fixated, it wasn't every day you met your heroes. Weiss had seemed interested at first, but the night had taken its toll and she had retreated to her tent. Yang hadn't even got that far, sprawled face down in the snow.

After 6 years as Yang's partner, she was still amazed by her ability to sleep anywhere, from a hole in the ground to the disposal chute of an airship. It was unnatural. Blake was the opposite, and it was this that kept her up. Even as Ruby and clement retreated to their tents, chatting excitedly, she stayed seated, watching the fire dance.

"Sleep not your thing?" Blake looked across the fire to the shifting pile of blankets, where two blue pools stared out at her. Blake shrugged, "someone has to keep watch" she suggested, halfheartedly. This got a laugh from the mound, causing it to shake, shifting it enough to reveal a mop of silver hair and a golden grin.

"You think Leon left a single thing alive in a mile's radius of here? The only danger left is the cold." He nodded over to the comatose Yang, "I've taken the liberty of popping her in a tent so her nose doesn't fall off" a second glance confirmed that yang was indeed gone, the only evidence being a dent in the snow that looked suspiciously like a face. "Now get some rest while you still can, we've got a lot to talk about in the morning" the man gave a soft smile before he sunk back into the blankets.

Blake slid into the tent, wiggling into her girlfriends' arms. It wasn't a bed, but it didn't matter so much, as long as yang was there. With that pleasant thought, Blake lay her head down on the bedroll and shut her eyes.

Blake woke in her own bed, in her own room, and gave a sigh of relief. she wasn't in a dark snowy forest in the company of two half mad hunters, she was safe and-

Then she saw the truth.

The land was split by a path, leading up a small hill into the unseen distance. On the left side there was a great ruin, derelict and crumbling, filled with shadows and stinking of pain and regret. On the right was a modern building, white walls and too many windows, the sharp tang of disinfectant clung to it. A sign stood by its the entrance, but its name was blurred. Only the shining sea lay behind her, the path sinking into its murky depths. The only way was forward.

It had taken far too long to reach the hill, and even longer to ascend it, but finally, Blake reached the peak. She gazed down at the island, marvelling at the monolithic ruins and sinister machinery that dotted the plains. A sweet music drifted through the air, echoing through the skeletal remains of once mighty fortresses. She stopped for a moment to listen. calming her laboured breaths to better hear the distant song, only for it to catch as she realised someone was humming along.

She spun around, and came face to face with death.

"I told her you'd make it! She was all like "No, she'll just go back to sleep" but i knew you were a smart cookie!" Rossa laughed, pushing a strand of blood red hair from her face. "But where are my manners?!" She stepped back, rising to her full height as she spread her arms, the world at her back. "welcome to hell".

"That's totally proof, pay up"

Augen sighed as he flicked the coin over to his partner, who gave a quiet victory cheer.

"You know, i always say to myself, could he possibly get any lower? And every time i think you've reached your lowest, you surprise me with some new low." he glared at his partner.

Leon laughed, ruffling the shorter man's hair, "is someone angry they lost?"

Augen shrugged, "Actually I'm just saddened by how terrible of a person you are"

That caused Leon to laugh again, "I'm still fucking gorgeous"

"I'm sure you'd come first place in a Grimm beauty pageant"

"And I'm sure your mom would come first place in the whore's pageant"

"As quick a wit as ever Leon"

"Yeah well at least i didn't think the chicks where "just good friends" "

"You think all girls are secret lesbians"

"They 90% are dude"

"As good in maths as you are at comebacks"

"Whatever man, you wanna raid their rations and blame it on the wildlife?"

"Does the sun rise in the east?"

Leon paused, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes?"

"Yes"

"Booyah!"


	10. Chapter 10

The Arm landed beside him with a soft thump, the cauterised flesh sending up a hiss of steam as it hit the snow. A moment later the cat's sword landed in the snow beside it.

She was unconscious before she hit the ground, but her partner screamed for her, a mad roar that reminded Leon of an Ursa. The girl was in no way fast enough to counter Kin, that chunk of metal he called a sword moving with a dexterity that almost put his own spear play to shame, but her fiery rage put her at equals with kins own inferno and for a moment she held pace. Then she made the mistake of trying to attack his open side. An instant later the frozen ground cracked as she was slammed into it, her cry cut off by a spray of blood from her mouth. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she was gone.

Tesela had snapped, making it worthless for conduction. But perhaps if he stabbed him, he could fill Kin with enough electricity to melt him just as he had done to Augen. His stomach knotted as he did his best to look away from the smoking corpse of his best friend, the calm friendly fat-ass who'd just wanted everyone to get along. He would be avenged, and the blonde girl too. Leon was going to kill Kin, but he wouldn't stop there, no, he would kill every fucking white fang fucker he could fucking find before the fucking gut wound did him in.

GOD! What a shitty way to die! Leon would have been happy with being eaten by Grimm or even a heart attack, but a slow acting gut wound was almost insulting for someone of his calibre. Pressing his back against the wall he tried to push himself to his feet, but his legs were unwieldily and numb. It took him a moment to realise that he couldn't feel anything below his chest. Not that it mattered, he was already a dead man walking, or more accurately, flying. Locking his eyes to the thin armour on kins neck, he launched himself into the air.

Too fast, he had been too fast. Augen had been right, this wasn't Kin, this was something far worse. One cold hand was around his throat, and he felt the tip of Claidmor against his chest. At least it was quicker than a gut wound...

Then something warm sprayed against his face, and Kins hand slackened. Opening his eyes, Leon looked at the cat, who was clutching Rossa's revolver in her remaining hand. Then the light died in her eyes and she blacked out again.

"Blake!" Schnee caught the falling girl, almost buckling under her own injured leg. The red one and Clement where knelt next to the blonde, who was, surprisingly, still breathing.

The man of the hour though, was dead. He had dropped leon, fallen to his knees, and toppled over. A mix of red and grey leaking from his head. Even now his hood stayed up, and despite everything Leon felt he deserved that much.

The shadows in the arena where growing deeper, and far off he could hear the pounding of boots on stone. It was time for the kiddies to skedaddle the fuck out of here, and leave the slaughter to the professional.

Shaking the Red girl by the shoulder, he pushed his gauntlet into her hands and pointed towards the short tunnel they had entered through. fastening the gauntlet, and slinging the blonde over her back she marched towards the exit with a determined scowl, no questions, good. Their mission was to go north, they'd gone as far as they could, they could go home. But not Leon, hunters like him didn't get to go home. They do what is necessary then they died, and with his gut wound it was not like he would get far regardless.

Stopping at the lip of the tunnel, Clement said something to the red girl which made her cry out in suprise, but Leon couldn't hear properly past the drum of boots, drawing ever closer. Without warning, clement sprang, punching her hard enough for her to stumble back into the tunnel, before bringing down the rusted portcullis to separate them. Turning away from the cries and threats, he retrieved his flask from the snow, taking a deep drag as he walked away from his only means of escape. Stopping by his side, he offered it to Leon, who gratefully accepted. The fiery liquid dulling his aches and settling his frayed nerves.

"you know" said clement, a hint of hope in his voice, "the blonde guy never specifically said anyone else who went north would die."

Leon nodded, though he doubted it himself it was pointless to kill the boys hopes.

Clement slammed fresh dust vials into his gauntlet, watching with a satisfied smile as it flared to life. "To live as Victors, or die as Heroes.

That got a laugh from Leon. The kid had said he was a big fan, but that was impressive. "Lets hope its the former."

Tea slowed his breathing, feeling the pain lace through him as he studied the ruined robot. It had been quite spirited, but in combat It made the same mistakes as its creators, and had payed dearly for them. Despite the circumstance and his wounds he couldn't help getting excited for what was to come. Humming a merry tune he turned away from the setting sun and began the long march back to Mercia.


	11. Chapter 11

The shells screamed overhead, hammering down on the castles golden towers. For Tea, the sound was like an old friend, reminding him of nights spent in the iron tomb his family had called a bomb shelter as atlas' finest blew their land to rubble.

He watched the others bicker, too far away to hear them. rouge was pointing angrily at the portal while the others waved their weapons in her face and shouted in reply. They wanted to fight, it wasn't right for an islander to run, but they had a mission to complete.

With a nod to Grau, the warriors where knocked through the portal by one of his towering mechanical knights. Only Hops dodged, lunging for rouge with a feral scream. Then she vanished. Rouge spun around, shield raised, but the girl really was gone. It didn't trouble Tea; she could handle herself. As could Rouge.

Their eyes locked for a moment, and Tea considered giving in and following them through that portal, but the kid had headed off on his own, and Oz had followed. As leader of this squad Tea was responsible for its members, he had to find them. Gritting his teeth, Tea snapped to attention and gave a sharp salute, before quickly turning on his heel and marching towards the ever closer roars of engines and prattle of gunfire. He felt something shift as the portal closed. Then he was alone.

Planting one knee on the Captains neck

He reached out blindly, his and closing around a small boulder, its edges tore deep gashes into his palms, but that didn't matter now. he lifted it with a screech and brought it down on the terrified girl, again, and again, and again, until he heard her head crack. He rested there for a moment, taking deep jagged breaths as his fire cooled and his mind cleared. Tossing the rock aside he looked down at his handiwork, admiring with a grim satisfaction the iridescence of her grey matter as it seeped into the dirt.

The air was alive with a metallic buzzing, like a wasp stuck in a tin can. The sound sent shudders down Tea's spine, and after a few more deep breaths, he carefully rose to his feet. Slowly, steadily, so not to topple over as the world spun around him. He pulled off his shirt, letting the bloodied fabric drop in a heap into the dirt.

The buzzing stopped, and It materialised. Atlas' new invention was definitely a wonder of technology, an android with an Aura. It almost looked human, with a thick mass of curly orange hair framing a pale face with bright green eyes. The eyes where the giveaway, they were too dull. There was no sparkle, no depth, no emotion. Just a simulated glare of determination.

"Stop right there." Its voice was feminine, high like a child's. Tea could almost imagine her in a bow and frock, the result of some technical designers' fantasy, whether sexual or paternal he did not care. It was in his way.

Tea chewed on his cheek, letting a silence fall over the battlefield for a long moment, long enough to confuse Its handlers. "Where is the boy?"

"Gone"

"Gone?" Had they dragged him off to atlas already? Tea hadn't asked too much into why he had run on that fateful night, but he knew the last thing Julius wanted was to go anywhere near Atlas' or its Military.

"It was not our doing, the summer island warrior used some kind of teleporter" It looked at him with its almost human eyes, filled with sadness. "Ozymandias Riley died fighting. If that means anything. where he Atlean, he'd be remembered as a hero."

Tea's heart froze. No. It was too cruel. He wasn't a soldier, he was just a kid. He never should have let him come. He never should have let him play hero.

"he was a good kid, never told him that. Never said what i really thought. Now i never will." He mused aloud. A metallic warmth filled his mouth as he bit into his cheek, before he hawked a gob of blood into the dirt, that would worry them. "Aside from that girl I killed, what are my charges?"

"Assault, trespassing, harbouring wanted criminals, aiding wanted cri-"

"Hold on a moment... Am I not on the list?"

"The... List?" The Robot paused, head cocked to mimic thinking, though her inhuman stillness quickly shattered that illusion.

"The wanted list? I must say I'm rather hurt." Tea stomped one dress shoe down with a derisive snort.

"You are Mercian; Mercia last war was hundreds of years ago. You are an industrial nation, not a -"

"Wrong again ginger nut" he began to smile, but stopped in an exaggerated style, eyes wide and mouth agape. He held for a moment before letting out a knowing murmur. "Of course, you never knew it was us., did you? We wore no crest or flag, but our actions spoke for us."

Tea could almost imagine them, sharing confused looks and shouting out suggestions, but those that had been there would know, it was unlikely they could ever forget. What interested Tea was how they would react.

The robot looked concerned, though that was not surprising, atlas' channels would be in disarray.

Its eyes locked onto him again, and in it he saw fresh resolve. Even with no real idea what it was happening, it seemed to have got the gist of what he was. Which meant it now saw him as an enemy, real smooth going there. From accomplice to mastermind in the span of a short conversation.

There was something slumped against one of the ruined paladins, a large smoking hole in its chest. Someone had covered his face, the robot perhaps? But Tea knew it was Oz. A feeling of calm over took him, a dreadfully familiar feeling. Soon enough his pain had faded and the world dulled around him, with the robot like a beacon in the haze.

It had been years since the war, far too long to go without a good fight in his Opinion. He stretched out, hearing his joints crack. Did they notice his tattoo? He'd had it done just for them after all, would they even be able to put two and two together? maths was far more challenging than suppressing small nations after all.

Regardless, it was about time he saw what these little dolls where made of.


	12. Chapter 12

The sword stood at the centre of the arena, planted firmly into the frozen ground. It was immense, surely too large for anyone to wield. dark grey Iron etched with intricate designs, worn and bent from hard use. And despite her hopes, Weiss knew they where about to meet its owner.

A howl of pain echoed through the arena, like that of a dying animal. Weiss heard Clement back up with a curse. Her teammates where frozen, rigid and still as sentinels. Leon and Augen moved in step to face the shadows as they rose, the fine black mist coagulating into an almost human form.

The thing rolled its shoulders, pulling the sword free with the dexterity of a drunk butcher, before falling into a strange fighting stance, left foot forward, right foot back, standing completely straight. Its head crooked at an angle with a sound like a burbling stream, then its back knee bent and it disappeared.

Weiss' heart almost burst out her chest as Leon met the blade head on with a terrible screech of iron, expertly twisting it aside and twirling around to deliver his own strike to kins back, only for an armoured boot to connect with his neck. An instant later augen appeared behind it and grabbed it by the neck, twisting to slam it down into the snow with a grunt. Then it was over.

They say that seeing is believing, but Weiss could hardly believe it could be over so quickly. Though her own coach had said the same thing about skilled Duelists, they never had long bouts. In their world, that quick burst of speed and strength, that quick flurry of blades, was everything. No tricks, no delays, no rules. Kill or be killed, so far away from the drawn out garish clashes of hunters.

With a dull stab of dread, she realised the Thing was moving again, rising from the ground like a puppet on strings. The darkness that formed it began to swirl and ripple strangely, as if trying to break its own surface tension. The violent writing had caused it to begin to drip, and soon the shadow was pooling at the Things feet, sloughing off ridges of grey armour and dripping from sodden grey rags that wrapped around it.

Weiss hadn't been one for idols, she had dreamed only of surpassing them, SHE would be the Idol. But she knew their faces, their fighting styles, their notable victories, their semblances, anything she would need to know if she ever had to face them in a Tournament.

At the time the notion that she would ever fight living legends had seemed perfectly natural to her, surpassing them meant besting them, after all.

The Exile had been the only one to worry her. She had seen his teams' disappearance as a blessing in disguise, even then with her ceaseless beliefs in her own destined spot as the greatest hunter that ever lived, she had been more than a little intimidated by the beast that lurked beneath that hood.

But that hadn't mattered, MIA was just a soft way of saying they where some Grimm's supper. She wouldn't have to trouble herself with them anymore. Of course then she had gone to beacon and learnt not to be such a cold bitch, but the point remained that she no longer had to fear fighting him, although it seems fate had other plans.

The darkness sprayed across the arena as he shook himself free. A droplet burst on her cheek, and Weiss' head was filled with noise, thousands of tiny voices drowning her mind with their whispered nothings.

Kins gaze settled on Augen, and the voices became frenzied. Weiss groaned as streaks of pain shot trough her skull, whispers like Razor blades rattling around in her head.

Kin charged with another inhuman screech, but Augen dodged his wild swings, flickering from place to place like a shoddy stop-motion. Kins both writhed in mid air as Augens hammer struck him from a hundred different direction. Augen was picking up speed, and he began to blur much like a bulwarks rotor. His hammer blows had settled into a steady drum, if she strained her ears she could almost hear a beat through the noise, she almost laughed, the saying "like Music to my ears" seemed rather fitting at this point. Then the beat was replaced by a long warbled note from the quivering steel, and Weiss' laugh caught in her throat.

Kins held the hammer in one hand, but the veins bulging in Augens neck told her that there was a lot more force there than the exiles stance suggested. Kins savagely twisted the hammer and augen cried out in pain, his grip loosening enough for kin to wrench the hammer free and toss it across the arena. Far out of reach, his pain clouded mind unable to harness his semblance.

No whispers now, just silence, a cold overbearing silence that weighed on Weiss' mind, a physical nothingness.

Kin stared at him, his hands shaking slightly.

The silence tightened, and kin erupted in a gout of black flames as augen dove away from him. A fiery whip lashed across his back and he was knocked down into the snow.

The fire formed long claws, which kin rammed into Augens stomach. He let out a choked gasp of pain as kin slowly rose, lifting him up until he dangled almost a meter above the floor. At his full height kin towered above them, a pillar of fire and iron.

Augens mouth twisted in silent screams, but the fire was spreading quickly, scorching his lungs and erupting from his opened maw. Droplets of gold dripped from his chin as his teeth melted, dropping into the Snowmelt with a hiss of steam. He beat at kins arm, clawing and battering on the thick iron, but his strength soon failed him, and he spent the last moments of his life in agony as his eyes popped and his brain broiled.

The voices laughed.


	13. Chapter 13

The Arm landed beside him with a soft thump, the cauterised flesh sending up a hiss of steam as it hit the snow. A moment later the cat's sword landed in the snow beside it.

She was unconscious before she hit the ground, but her partner screamed for her, a mad roar that reminded Leon of an Ursa. The girl was in no way fast enough to counter Kin, that chunk of metal he called a sword moving with a dexterity that almost put his own spear play to shame, but her fiery rage put her at equals with kins own inferno and for a moment she held pace. Then she made the mistake of trying to attack his open side. An instant later the frozen ground cracked as she was slammed into it, her cry cut off by a spray of blood from her mouth. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she was gone.

Tesela had snapped, making it worthless for conduction. But perhaps if he stabbed him, he could fill Kin with enough electricity to melt him just as he had done to Augen. His stomach knotted as he did his best to look away from the smoking corpse of his best friend, the calm friendly fat-ass who'd just wanted everyone to get along. He would be avenged, and the blonde girl too. Leon was going to kill Kin, but he wouldn't stop there, no, he would kill every fucking white fang fucker he could fucking find before the fucking gut wound did him in.

GOD! What a shitty way to die! Leon would have been happy with being eaten by Grimm or even a heart attack, but a slow acting gut wound was almost insulting for someone of his calibre. Pressing his back against the wall he tried to push himself to his feet, but his legs were unwieldily and numb. It took him a moment to realise that he couldn't feel anything below his chest. Not that it mattered, he was already a dead man walking, or more accurately, flying. Locking his eyes to the thin armour on kins neck, he launched himself into the air.

Too fast, he had been too fast. Augen had been right, this wasn't Kin, this was something far worse. One cold hand was around his throat, and he felt the tip of Claidmor against his chest. At least it was quicker than a gut wound...

Then something warm sprayed against his face, and Kins hand slackened. Opening his eyes, Leon looked at the cat, who was clutching Rossa's revolver in her remaining hand. Then the light died in her eyes and she blacked out again.

"Blake!" Schnee caught the falling girl, almost buckling under her own injured leg. The red one and Clement where knelt next to the blonde, who was, surprisingly, still breathing.

The man of the hour though, was dead. He had dropped leon, fallen to his knees, and toppled over. A mix of red and grey leaking from his head. Even now his hood stayed up, and despite everything Leon felt he deserved that much.

The shadows in the arena where growing deeper, and far off he could hear the pounding of boots on stone. It was time for the kiddies to skedaddle the fuck out of here, and leave the slaughter to the professional.

Shaking the Red girl by the shoulder, he pushed his gauntlet into her hands and pointed towards the short tunnel they had entered through. fastening the gauntlet, and slinging the blonde over her back she marched towards the exit with a determined scowl, no questions, good. Their mission was to go north, they'd gone as far as they could, they could go home. But not Leon, hunters like him didn't get to go home. They do what is necessary then they died, and with his gut wound it was not like he would get far regardless.

Stopping at the lip of the tunnel, Clement said something to the red girl which made her cry out in suprise, but Leon couldn't hear properly past the drum of boots, drawing ever closer. Without warning, clement sprang, punching her hard enough for her to stumble back into the tunnel, before bringing down the rusted portcullis to separate them. Turning away from the cries and threats, he retrieved his flask from the snow, taking a deep drag as he walked away from his only means of escape. Stopping by his side, he offered it to Leon, who gratefully accepted. The fiery liquid dulling his aches and settling his frayed nerves.

"you know" said clement, a hint of hope in his voice, "the blonde guy never specifically said anyone else who went north would die."

Leon nodded, though he doubted it himself it was pointless to kill the boys hopes.

Clement slammed fresh dust vials into his gauntlet, watching with a satisfied smile as it flared to life. "To live as Victors, or die as Heroes.

That got a laugh from Leon. The kid had said he was a big fan, but that was impressive. "Lets hope its the former."

Tea slowed his breathing, feeling the pain lace through him as he studied the ruined robot. It had been quite spirited, but in combat It made the same mistakes as its creators, and had payed dearly for them. Despite the circumstance and his wounds he couldn't help getting excited for what was to come. Humming a merry tune he turned away from the setting sun and began the long march back to Mercia.


	14. Chapter 14

The first thing that came to Weiss mind as she stared down the barrel of a white fang soldiers rifle was how pissed clement would be if he knew his sacrifice had been pointless. The Towering Orange-haired Imbecile had somehow wormed his way into Weiss heart, and a part of Her wanted to at least offer his memory by going down fighting. Keeping her eyes glued to the soldier, she slowly shifted her hand towards Mysentar's hilt.

The soldier vanished in a flash of red, his rifle clattering to the ground and letting off a shot that blasted a hole through the nearest tree. The other soldiers opened fire, but they quickly fell to the red blur, clutching at their wounds as they howled in pain. Looking up she noticed the soldier who held her at gunpoint suspended by his underwear from the top of one of the ancient pines.

Reappearing among the fallen soldiers, ruby fell back into her fighting stance as her breathing steadied. It was that calm that had kept her from making the same mistakes others did. Even now, with her idols and best friend dead, and two teammates wounded, she wouldn't kill anyone. Weiss had killed her first during the vytal invasion, a young gecko Faunus with bright green hair. She still saw him in her dreams.

The air was split by a great boom, then Ruby was caught in the side and slammed into a tree. Almost breaking the old blackened sentinel in two. A massive bear Faunus emerged from the tree's, blowing smoke from two cannons strapped to his arms. Glancing around at the wounded soldiers he grunted in amusement, kicking one in her wound and causing her to screech in pain. With a growl he silenced her, pressing his boot against her neck until it snapped loudly.

More Troops emerged from the tree's, dressed in black and blue. They quickly silenced the other wounded soldiers, cutting their throats with strange curved knives. One raising his rifle to put two shots in the man dangling from the tree. They reminded Weiss of the soldiers that had accompanied her sister when she had been a specialist. They even moved the same way, always on their toes, always alert, with a quiet confidence that betrayed their skill.

The Bear Faunus kicked Ruby, who flopped over into the snow. He grumbled something to himself, then turned to her.

"And that leaves you, Ice-Bitch"

he bared his fangs and hit her with a whiff of rotten meat and blood. Weiss drew Mysentar and conjured a glyph below her to spring her away from the Faunus. But he was faster, knocking her across the clearing with a backhanded blow. Weiss rolled in the snow, coming to stop by one of the soldiers, who raised his rifle to strike her again, but the darkness took her before he could land the blow.

Weiss came too in complete darkness as someone screamed. The world shook, and she fell over, enough for her blindfold to slip and her to see the bear Faunus dragged out the back of the bulwark by a horrifyingly disfigured Grimm. Alarms blared, soldiers screamed, and something exploded in the bulwarks cockpit.

Then it stopped.

"Miss Schnee"

Time had stopped, but one soldier hadn't. he stepped past one of his comrades who was frozen mid fall, a pipe sticking from his neck . It was the soldier she had seen before falling unconscious, or rather, it was the bellhop who had lost her luggage then vanished into thin air before she could properly berate him.

"It would have been nicer if I'd had some time to explain everything to you, but the long and short of it is that this bulwarks going down with no survivors. Im going to kick you and your team out before that happens. I trust you are strong enough to handle the rest yourselves." He turned slightly to look at the others, bound and blindfolded, before speaking again. "And time resumes."

The world moved again, the soldier fell in a spray of blood, another tumbled past, consumed in flames. A boot connected with her back, and Weiss fell into the sky.


End file.
